After 4 years as Vice President of the Multiple Listing Service, this past Thursday I was sworn in as 2014 MLS President. I have to admit that it was a proud moment, but I also feel very strongly that there is quite a bit of work to do. Our association has merged with 3 other […]

Name recognition is something all business enterprises aspire to have. A good reputation, a book of business, “getting your name out,” is the goal of every company. In a brand conscious place like Westchester County, it is the holy grail. That being said, industry specific circumstances often make that aspiration a constantly moving target. For […]

I am happy to share that 2013 was perhaps the best year in the company’s history. Not only did we crush our 2012 numbers, but J. Philip Real Estate exceeded some lofty goals I had set a year ago.  2013 was the first year that the firm closed over 100 transactions. That was my most […]

As the real estate market cycles into a recovery, talking heads are discussing what index will be the most accurate predictor of the 2014 market. Will it be new housing starts? Employment? The DOW?  I beg to differ. In 2014, we’ll be busier than any year since 2005 due in the largest part to one […]

While I never intended to take a formal break from writing, one day a guy wakes up and sees that he hasn’t posted an update since August. It wasn’t planned; nothing bad happened to me. I have just always felt that I would never “force it,” and I had nothing to say for a while. […]

I seldom “curate” content of other blogs but this is too thought provoking and insightful to not share. Greg Fischer, a pretty profound real estate broker in Fort Worth, Texas penned an outstanding piece on moving entitled Moving the feelings|Sometimes boxes are the easiest things to pack. VERY good stuff, and while you are there […]

While the real estate market here in Westchester and the Hudson Valley is certainly on the mend, one vestige of the old buyer’s market, the would be-buyer with the low ball offer, is still with us. Typically, the justification for the low offer is one of two things: the property is unsold, or the property […]

The casual consumer may not find this subject terribly interesting. Market watchers and industry people will be talking about it all day. Earlier this month, President Obama was interviewed by Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff on the state of housing in the United States. The National Association of Realtors, feeling snubbed perhaps (although they shouldn’t. The […]

What does $675,000 buy in Ossining, New York?  I’ll tell you. $675,000 just got someone a 2004 built 3600 square foot 5 bedroom 3.5 bath colonial with a killer view of the Hudson River from the rear deck. The Birch Court neighborhood is on the old grounds of the Briar Crest nursing home, and the […]

What does $260,000 buy these days in Ossining, New York?  I’m glad you asked. Interesting story: I was referred to a very nice couple who had a cute little cape in the Campwoods neighborhood that had just expired off the market after being listed by a major franchise in our area. They were assured by […]

I follow both Forbes and AOL Real Estate on Twitter. I have always viewed Forbes as the standard of excellence in financial journalism, but in my view, this morning they got schooled by AOL in responsible reporting. Both linked to recent stories on the real estate market on Twitter this morning, and both could not […]

It is with great pride that we announce our newest associate to the firm, Emilia Csak. One of the great things about my life is the opportunity to work with people who bring things to the table that I do not possess. In the case of Emilia Csak, that is a pretty long list. In her […]

One of the biggest coincidences of my life occurred yesterday when, a few hours after sending a Facebook message to the late, great Joe Ferrara‘s sister, I saw a friend write that I was an Inman Innovator Award finalist. Joe was, among many things, a writer at Inman News and a huge influence and inspiration […]

Recently, in a real estate Tech Support Forum on Facebook, someone posted their opinion of Zillow’s latest TV commercial. Zillow is a powder keg for controversy in the real estate community as it is, but since the commercial didn’t make a prominent reference to a real estate agent (there was a broker sign in the […]

This past Monday I was honored to moderate a panel of local industry leaders at the Women’s Council of Realtors breakfast entitled “Embracing the Change.” The panelists were Jason Wilson, manager at Julia B Fee Sotheby’s, Chris Meyer, president of Houlihan Lawrence,  Leah Caro, broker at Bronxville Ley Real Estate, Gary Leogrande, past HGMLS president […]

While I am known as a guy who is never seen without a gizmo in my hand, I actually think better sketching my thoughts on a yellow legal pad. Typically, when meeting with people they’ll see my iPad, smart phone, and computer closely followed by that very old school pad and pen, and only then […]

This is one of those posts that I write for strictly therapeutic purposes, so please indulge me. Unlike some agents who keep their cell phones a state secret, mine is not. As a matter of fact, when I hear a licensee talk about how they “value their privacy” and prefer that their mobile number not […]

I have started to “vlog” or video blog, and this is something I recorded to day about an article in the Journal News on people trying to save money in real estate transactions by not using a broker. My comment on the article was as follows: You can save quite a bit of money by […]

I am one of those brokers who vocally opposes the practice of using appraisers who do not possess local knowledge of the area they work.  I have seen too many sales scuttled by robotic, ill-informed appraisals which lack the context that local, more accurate information brings. Out of area appraisers often are less engaged, and […]

One of the Facebook discussion groups on real estate I frequent is the aptly titled “Raise the Bar” forum where we discuss best practices and making the industry better. Because real estate is local and customs and laws vary by region, opinions often vary. Many themes resurface from time to time, among them the the […]